From WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com …
— This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with Justin Byers, founder and CEO of Axio BioPharma.
This Madison-based company is a contract manufacturing and development organization, with customers ranging from early-stage biotech firms to top-10 U.S. pharmaceutical businesses. It’s focused on drug substances and research materials such as specialty proteins.
“What’s really setting Axio apart is that we’re using AI at the foundation of the company, specifically we’re using AI in the process development cycle,” said Byers, who previously worked as a process development scientist.
He explains the standard approach for this process is “very time-consuming, costly” and he wanted to find a better method. By using AI to examine and integrate the data the company generates through its own manufacturing process, Axio BioPharma is skipping the iterative process development cycle, “saving years for our clients.”
After launching in August of last year and coming fully online in November, the company has hit the ground running.
“Kickstarting this year with over half a dozen programs already starting here in January, so we’re really happy, starting off the year very busy,” Byers said.
The business is still raising its seed investment round, and Byers sat down with dozens of investors at the recent J.P. Morgan Health Care Conference in California earlier this year.
“We’re already thinking ahead to what’s that next step, so our long-term plan is to build the company out here in Madison, and build out a large campus of several manufacturing buildings, where we can do more than just our current focus,” he said.
By this summer, Byers is targeting a ten-fold expansion of its production capacity at a larger facility and plans to hire up to four more scientists.
The conversation also touches on the state’s biotech and life sciences industry, related workforce development and more.
Listen to the podcast and see the full list of WisBusiness.com podcasts.
— UW Health is opening a new family medicine clinic in Janesville on Tuesday after repurposing the space from a commercial office.
The health system today announced the new 9,900-square-foot clinic, which will be staffed by one doctor and two advanced practice care providers as well as nursing and laboratory workers. The facility will provide adult and pediatric primary care services, immunizations, physicals, medical imaging and more.
Alicia Rizzo, director of ambulatory operations for UW Health, notes the opening comes as the region is seeing higher demand for quality health care.
“This new clinic strengthens our commitment to delivering remarkable care to our communities,” she said in the release. “This convenient location and enhanced care coordination ensures that patients have access to the highest quality care.”
See more details in the release below.
— The Senate Health Committee has voted via paper ballot 5-0 in favor of a bipartisan bill to extend Medical Assistance coverage to postpartum women.
The bill would extend coverage from 60 days to 12 months. It passed in the Senate 32-1 last session, but didn’t receive a vote in the Assembly. Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, has knocked the proposal as an expansion of welfare.
Bill co-authors, Rep. Patrick Snyder, R-Weston, and Sen. Jesse James, R-Thorp, said at a committee hearing last week that the bill is not a partisan issue, and the state should “do better for our moms, our kiddos and our families as a whole.”
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